VMware has unveiled a slew of updates to its end-user computing portfolio as it looks to lead the charge to the post-PC era.
First up is VMware View 5.1, the company’s desktop virtualisation platform. Boaz Chalamish, senior vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware, told CBR that the new updates focus on lower TCO and improved management capabilities.
Part of the new look VMware View is the introduction of Storage Accelerator, a caching technology that the company claims can reduce IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second) at peak times by 65%. This will reduce costs associated with storage, Chalamish said.
VMware View Persona Management is being extended to include physical desktops, meaning user settings across all Windows devices will be preserved, helping users switch between physical and virtual environments.
Management capabilities have also been improved, VMware says, with the streamlining of provisioning, configuration management, connection brokering, policy enforcement, performance monitoring and application assignment. All this is done through a single management console, Chalamish said.
He added that the company hopes the updates will improve the end-user experience of a virtualised desktop by enabling them to connect to their VMware View desktop from a variety of devices, such as Mac, Windows and Linux desktops, thin or zero clients, and Apple iPad, Android and Amazon Kindle Fire tablets.
VMware has also updated its Horizon Application Manager platform. Version 1.5 will be available as an on-premise deployment and provides end-users with access to a wide variety of SaaS applications. It is all centrally managed by the IT department, who will be in control of what applications users can access and what they can do with those apps.
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The company is also pushing its Dropbox rival, called Project Octopus, into beta. Chalamish said there are already a few hundreds customers using it, and VMware is also trialling it internally.
Keeping with the theme of ensuring IT is in control during the post-PC era, Project Octopus is a centrally managed data sharing and collaboration platform, with IT setting policies about who can share what information and who with. Content can be synced across multiple devices, VMware confirmed.
Chalamish told CBR that it is a question of when, not if, we hit the post-PC era and that management and setting the right entitlements and policies will be more important than the device itself.
"We are learning very fast that we have to serve multiple entities, not just IT folks. We have to increase our focus on end-users and I think you can see that [in the updates]. The [post-PC era] game will be how you can manage all those different services in an efficient way and ensure the end-users will not be confused by the breadth of offerings," he said.
VMware View 5.1, as well as the other updates, are expected to be available during Q2 2012, VMware says.
